Prospect Info: 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #11

[Schenn]

I will make a thread every day until we have determined the top 20 prospects according to Leaf fans on HFBoards for I think my 10th straight year. The criteria for a prospect will be loosely based on Calder eligibility. There may be a couple that slip through the cracks the first few posts because I am not perfect. Also please let me know if I have someone listed that is no longer with us, or any omissions. Comprehensive prospect lists are a little harder to find than you'd think this time of year.

Rankings:
1. Rasmus Sandin -- 48.4%
2. Nicholas Robertson -- 83.5%
3. Timothy Liljegren -- 53.8%
4. Rod Iron Amirov -- 94.3%
5. Mikhail Abramov -- 36.5%
6. Filip Hallander -- 32.4%
7. Yegor Korshkov -- 47.2%
T-8. Joey Anderson -- 27.7%
T-8. Nick Abruzzese -- 27.7%
10. Roni Hirvonen -- 45.6%
11.

______________
On The Docket:

Mac Hollowell
Filip Kral
Adam Brooks
Ian Scott
Semyon Der-Arguchintsev
Dmitri Ovechkinov
Artur Ahktyamov
Mikko Kokkonen
Joe Duszak
Topi Niemela
William Villeneuve
Joe Woll

____________
Next on the List:

JD Greenway
Nikolai Chebykin
Vladimir Bobylev
Vladislav Kara
Ryan O'Connell
Pontus Holmberg
Semyon Kizimov
Justin Brazeau
Teemu Kivihalme
Michael Koster
Calle Loponen
Joe Miller
Wyatt Schingoethe
Ryan Tverberg
Axell Rindell
Veeti Miettinen
John Fusco

______________
Past Results:
Prospect Info: - 2019 Leafs Board Prospect Ranking #20

Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #1
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Ranking #2
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #3
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #4
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #5
https://hfboards.mandatory.com/threads/2020-leafs-board-prospect-rankings-6.2785116/
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #7
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #8
Prospect Info: - 2020 Leafs Board Prospect Rankings #10

Suggest who I should add next, and who needs to be removed.

Click to read more...

 

[Cor]

Rod Iron Amirov?

 

[hamzarocks]

Kral for me.

Hes been very good in the WHL the past two years. Have him over niemela though niemela is a RHD and would be a better prospect just due to position if his game continue to expand in europe

 

[LeafChief]

Kokkonen for me. Very underrated.

 

[Magic Man]

Should be an easy round for Hollowell here.

 

[Morgs]

Niemela.

Kokkonen next.

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Ovechkinov?

 

[cesareborgia]

Who are these people lol. Had to vote for Ovechnikov, obviously.

And what happened to SDA? Wasn't he quite highly touted less than a year ago?

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Who are these people lol. Had to vote for Ovechnikov, obviously.

And what happened to SDA? Wasn't he quite highly touted less than a year ago?

Not really, he was tied #13 w/ Engvall in Aug 2019: Prospect Info: - 2019 Leafs Board Prospect Ranking #20 .

He had a good training camp his first time in. Got an extended look in preseason and a contract as a result in his D+1, but didn't score much in the O his following year. Ever since fans have been a bit down on him since the training camp.

 

[Phion Keneuf]

Slopi Topi here

 

[The Podium]

Our list is no where close to the Athletics.

Kloke posted the Leafs prospect rankings this morning

Top 5:
1. Sandin
2. Roberston
3. Kokkonen
- "I believe Kokkonen is going to be an NHL player one day, and so does nearly every person I talk to about his game", also apparently an A on in a mens league at 19
4. Amirov
5. Lilly

 

[Ziggdiezan]

Our list is no where close to the Athletics.

Kloke posted the Leafs prospect rankings this morning

Top 5:
1. Sandin
2. Roberston
3. Kokkonen
- "I believe Kokkonen is going to be an NHL player one day, and so does nearly every person I talk to about his game", also apparently an A on in a mens league at 19
4. Amirov
5. Lilly

Number 3 seems like a pretty big reach but I havent watched him enough to know.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Who are these people lol. Had to vote for Ovechnikov, obviously.

And what happened to SDA? Wasn't he quite highly touted less than a year ago?

SDA is most pure skilled guy we have today in our system ... but like Bracco will he ever make it? ... we will see but small skilled centre ... he needs to keep developing as we need to have a Tavares replacement type in 2/3 years ... you never know ... but nothing has changed from last year on his skill level ... he needs to push harder to get even faster and break through

 

[Morgs]

Our list is no where close to the Athletics.

Kloke posted the Leafs prospect rankings this morning

Top 5:
1. Sandin
2. Roberston
3. Kokkonen
- "I believe Kokkonen is going to be an NHL player one day, and so does nearly every person I talk to about his game", also apparently an A on in a mens league at 19
4. Amirov
5. Lilly

I mean, I like Kokkonen as much as the next guy but 3rd over Amirov and Liljegren? Lmao his reasoning:

I believe Kokkonen is going to be an NHL player one day, and so does nearly every person I talk to about his game. His lack of offence is evident, sure, but his stable, efficient and complete game should help him eventually transition from Liiga to North America. He’s only 19 but he plays and acts far older, became an assistant captain for Jukurit and through six games leads all players in average time on ice. The 2019 third-round pick is beginning to look like a very smart one by Leafs GM Kyle Dubas and co. I don’t see why he wouldn’t play in North America next season.

But apparently Liljegren "if he gets more games with the Leafs, he’s still going to have to show signs of progression soon-ish to even establish himself as a bottom-pair guy". Another f***ing guy essentially writing off a 21 year old defenseman that he even mentioned was the "go to guy" in the AHL for the Marlies lmao. It's like he's one of the few writers that actually gets Liljegren was elite in the AHL, and then looks at an 11 game sample size in the NHL and almost completely writes him off. It legit feels like he mixed up Liljegren and Kokkonen's names tbh.

Sure he's "improving", but he clearly doesn't dominate possession, he's almost anemic offensively, and from reports this season I've read "he looks lost". Obviously his team is trash and they don't use rel.stats on the Liiga website, but here's my best attempt at getting some context:

Kokkonen	GP	CF%	OZS%	Jukurit CF%
Draft	56	42.6	40.2 (2nd lowest)	45.5
D+1	39	42.7	43.7 (3rd lowest)	46.4
D+2	6	44.3	43.1 (5th lowest)	38.6

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

Other than a SSS this season his CF% is lower than his teams in every season meaning his team seems to be giving up more shot attempts when he's on the ice than not. Obviously it's not perfect as he plays into Jukurit's numbers and idk why he's in such a defensive role as a 18/19 year old, but still. I'm not trying to bash the guy, I'm just shocked someone has him above Liljegren.

For comparison: Rindell had a 51.7% in his D+2 and was on the same team (38.8% this year). Niemela had a 53% in his draft year as a full-time bottom pairing guy on one of the best teams in the league.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Our list is no where close to the Athletics.

Kloke posted the Leafs prospect rankings this morning

Top 5:
1. Sandin
2. Roberston
3. Kokkonen
- "I believe Kokkonen is going to be an NHL player one day, and so does nearly every person I talk to about his game", also apparently an A on in a mens league at 19
4. Amirov
5. Lilly

that's one of the worst rankings I've ever seen

 

[Morgs]

that's one of the worst rankings I've ever seen

Like it just doesn't make sense at all. I can't even say he's fishing for clicks or trying to be different as it's so terrible I can't understand how someone could put that without actually believing it. Like even his description as to why is "he's going to be a NHL player". Ok, you're more sure of that than Liljegren?

Like at least you could have a case (not a good one) to say Abramov or Hallander, or even Abruzzese should be in that spot, but Kokkonen? Lmao his development needs to absolutely skyrocket to be in that equation.

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

Like it just doesn't make sense at all. I can't even say he's fishing for clicks or trying to be different as it's so terrible I can't understand how someone could put that without actually believing it. Like even his description as to why "he's going to be a NHL player". Ok, you're more sure of that than Liljegren?

Like at least you could have a case (not a good one) to say Abramov or Hallander, or even Abruzzese should be in that spot, but Kokkonen? Lmao his development needs to absolutely skyrocket to be in that equation.

My faith in him dropped when I saw him make the point that Robertson would be blocked by the Leafs' LW depth and that's why he's ranked below Sandin, and it only got worse from there. Even Kokkonen's family members would rank him outside the top 5

 

[Prominence]

I wouldn't place too much emphasis on theaethletic's lists due to the fact that these guys also have to cover other teams so they most likely only see prospects once or twice a year.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

How did SDA fall out of the top 10

 

[Blue Nate]

How did SDA fall out of the top 10

we drafted some better guys and didn't graduate anyone.

 

[Cor]

I am fine with Niemela here. Next 4 should be SDA, Kral, Kokkonen and Villeneuve. All 5 are in the same sort of tier.

Goalie prospects are hard to rank. We almost shouldn't even include them tbh

 

[CantLoseWithMatthews]

How did SDA fall out of the top 10

He wasn't top 10 last year and the prospect pool got better

 

[SeaOfBlue]

Kokkonen for me. Very underrated.

I like Kokkonen but I think Niemela has more upside.

 

[JT AM da real deal]

Not really, he was tied #13 w/ Engvall in Aug 2019: Prospect Info: - 2019 Leafs Board Prospect Ranking #20 .

He had a good training camp his first time in. Got an extended look in preseason and a contract as a result in his D+1, but didn't score much in the O his following year. Ever since fans have been a bit down on him since the training camp.

Babs really liked his skill level ... we really didn't have many guys on team or on Marlies or in the draft who had his hands or his edgework ... it really comes down to his straight line speed and his compete ... i have not seen our recent drafted guys but likely they don't have his skill level either ... so hard to project these type of guys .. they could flop or be top centre

 

[BoredBrandonPridham]

Babs really liked his skill level ... we really didn't have many guys on team or on Marlies or in the draft who had his hands or his edgework ... it really comes down to his straight line speed and his compete ... i have not seen our recent drafted guys but likely they don't have his skill level either ... so hard to project these type of guys .. they could flop or be top centre

I remember he had a good work ethic as well. He's a wild card for me but I'm not counting him out. When he signed his contract, I remember reading him and his family had a bit of an unfortunate financial situation. I assumed the contract (he gets the $92k/yr signing bonuses regardless if he plays in the NHL) was a way to ensure finances won't get in the way of his ability to focus on hockey. Hopefully it pays off.